Anke Verslype is a drummer and composer from Antwerp. Mostly know from her own project aki, active since 2020, through which she develops her own music with various musicians and line-ups. The collective has independently released two EPs and two full albums on W.E.R.F. Records — Nader (2022) and Het tij (2024). For these, she collaborated with artists such as Joachim Badenhorst and Niels Van Heertum. In 2023, the group won the prestigious Jong Jazztalent Gent award and presented their new music on the main stage of Gent Jazz 2024. A new album is planned for release in 2027. 

In 2025, Anke founded a new trio with Artan Buleshkaj (guitar) and Loni Cornelis (violin), for which she also takes on the role of composer. Their first album 'One Song (Until the day breaks)' is out on May 8th 2026. The trio searches for simple, almost folk-like melodies that easily get stuck in your head. They mix these musical ideas with free improvisations. The result is a musical world full of contrasts: playful and open, yet also exciting and unpredictable. Out of quiet soundscapes, melodies appear that feel both familiar and fresh.

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Furthermore, Verslype is a permanent member of the jazz trio Bodem (led by Adia Van Herentals) and Festi (led by Fien Desmet) and the live band of Liesa van der Aa. In 2019, she played drums for While I’m Still Young, a project led by Jakob Bro. In 2019 and 2020, she wrote several big band arrangements, performed together with the Antwerp Jazz Orchestra and Chris Potter in 2019 and again in early 2022. She also performed with the Virago Symphonic Orchestra and composed the music for the new dance production Haear by Sarah Mck Fife Company, as well as for the animated film Ego Echo by Ezra Belgrado.

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Thanks to her background, Verslype is also active in the theatre world. In the summer and autumn of 2019, she wrote and performed the music for Killie Billie, the latest production by Theater FroeFroe, together with Ruben Den Brok and Hanne Torfs. The performance was revived for several seasons. Currently, Anke is touring with her own interactive and visual theatre concert called BRIES.